1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mechanism for automatically assembling stacks of bags or the like into bundles and more particularly, to a high speed, continuous motion mechanical lifting device which removes stacks from a conveying surface and elevates them into a gathering frame to form bundles which may be conveniently wrapped for shipping and storage.
2. Prior Art
In the past stacks of bags advancing along the conveyor of a collating and stacking machine were individually removed from the conveying surface by a series of cam controlled fingers which tilted the stacks on their sides while moving them into a stack collecting apparatus in a relatively unstable orientation. This stack collecting apparatus extends horizontally from the conveyor with a considerable additional floor space required and having a high degree of complexity necessitating much in the way of adjustments and service. Portions of the stack collecting apparatus were shown and described in "Automatic bag collating and stacking apparatus" invention which is the subject of commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 053,027, filed June 28, 1979 on behalf of Arthur H. Kidd. Prior to the above machine most all bundle forming operations were preformed by hand operations. However, since hand operations can no longer keep pace with the high production rates associated with modern bag manufacturing machines, it would be a decided advance in the state of the art to provide an automatic bundle forming apparatus which is a simple compact device and which can be used in connection with a high production bag manufacturing operation which can assemble bundles which are stable, vertically aligned and uniform in size and quantity.